It's been close to 10 years since Chicago soul/funk legend Syl Johnson played L.A. on or off camera. "I did 'Soul Train' and 'American Bandstand' out there," said the singer and guitarist, whose 1967 hit, "Different Strokes" (with its signature grunts and laughs), was a calling card of sorts for Johnson. "I used to love L.A. " After slipping into near obscurity in the 1980s, though, the seventysomething Johnson (who prefers not to give his age) came to L.A. only on rare occasions, usually to play the less-flashy blues circuit.

If you're an adult shuttling this holiday between the homes of divorced parents -- or just remembering that hectic obligation from earlier days -- here's some news about as welcome as spoiled eggnog: Your parents' breakup all those years ago may mean you are at higher risk of stroke. Among 13,000 participants in the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey, respondents who said their parents had divorced when they were young were 2.2 times as likely as those who grew up in intact families to report they had suffered a stroke at some point in their lives.

Country singer Randy Travis is recovering from a stroke that he had while undergoing surgery for congestive heart failure, his publicist said Wednesday evening. The Grammy-winning hitmaker, 54, was admitted to the hospital Sunday, and underwent a procedure Wednesday to relieve pressure on his brain. He remains in critical condition at a Plano, Texas, hospital. Travis, who helped reintroduce the honky tonk style of country music onto the charts in the 1980s, first fell ill about three weeks ago, his doctors said Wednesday, and his condition worsened after he contracted a viral upper respiratory infection.

L.A.'s smog problem might not be as visible as it was in the bad old days of the 1970s and '80s, but city residents might be at an increased risk of stroke even at levels of pollution that meet EPA standards. Oh yeah, and memory loss. A new study published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that Boston residents experienced more strokes when exposed to “moderate” amounts of particulate air pollution, as opposed to “good” amounts of pollution, according to EPA standards.

"Rocky Horror Picture Show" actor Tim Curry suffered from a "major stroke" at his home in Los Angeles and is said to be recovering, according to reports. The British actor, 67, collapsed during the episode but is now said to be "doing great," his Los Angeles agent Marcia Hurwitz told the U.K.'s Daily Mail. Initial reports said that the famed character actor was rendered speechless after the stroke, but Hurwitz refuted those claims. "He absolutely can speak and is recovering at this time and in great humor," she said.

Justin Rose beat European Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood by a stroke Friday to win the eight-player World Golf Final in Belek, Turkey, and earn a career-best $1.5 million. The fifth-ranked Rose shot a five-under 66 in the all-English final at the Antalya Club to finish 5-0 in the $5.2-million event. Rose birdied the opening hole on the Sultan Course and led the rest of the way against the fourth-ranked Westwood, who earned $1 million. :: John Mallinger opened a four-stroke lead in the Frys.com Open at San Martin, Calif., making an eagle and two birdies on the final four holes for a nine-under 62. Mallinger eagled the par-five 15th and closed with consecutive birdies to cap his second straight bogey-free round and reach 14 under.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois has released a video showing him walking with the help of a cane and a harness as he talks about his rehabilitation since suffering a stroke in January. "I'm walking again," the Republican says, seated before a camera as he narrates a three-minute video showing him walking with a cane and on a hospital treadmill while fitted in a harness. At times he speaks haltingly, and the video shows him struggling to move his left side. Kirk was released last week from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and is continuing treatment there as an outpatient.

Retired Adm. Hyman G. Rickover was reported in stable condition at Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he is recovering from a stroke. Lt. David Morris, a Navy spokesman, confirmed that Rickover, 85, had suffered a stroke. Rickover was admitted July 4 in serious condition, but his condition has improved to stable, said Lt. Charles Updegrove, a spokesman at the hospital, which is just outside Washington. Rickover, known as the "father of the nuclear Navy," retired in 1982.

July 26, 2011 | By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / for the Booster Shots blog

There's more reason to worry (about yourself, that is) if Dad had a heart attack than if he had a stroke, researchers have found. In a study published Tuesday in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, scientists at the University of Oxford in England showed that people are more likely to inherit the risk of having a heart attack than the risk of having a stroke. The team looked at data collected in England from 906 patients who'd suffered acute heart ailments such as a heart attack and 1,105 patients with acute cerebral events, which include stroke and transient ischemic attack (or mini-stroke)